416 MODIFICATIONS AFFECTING THE ETHNIG SIGNIFICANCE 
flattened and greatly depressed on the right side, and this recedes so far, 
owing to the distortion of the whole cranium, that the right external 
angular process of the frontal bone is nearly an inch behind that of 
the left side. The skull recedes proportionally on the same side through- 
out, with considerable lateral development at the parietal protuberance, 
and irregular posterior projection on the right side of the occiput. 
The right superior maxillary and malar bones are detached from the 
calyarium, but the nasal bones and the left maxillary remain in situ, 
exhibiting, in the former, evidence of the well developed and prominent 
nose characteristic of Indian physiognomy. ‘The bones of the calva- 
rium, with one slight exception, have retained their coherence, not- 
withstanding the great distortion to which it has: been subjected, 
though in this example ossification has not begun at any of the 
sutures. The exception referred to is in the left temporal bone, 
which is so far partially displaced as to have detached the upper edge 
of the squamous suture. Part also of the base of the skull is wanting. 
The posthumous origin of the distortion of this skull is proved 
beyond dispute on replacing the condiles of the lower jaw in apposi- 
tion with the glenoid cavities, when it is found that, instead of the 
front teeth meeting the corresponding ones of the upper maxillary, 
the lower right and left incisors both impinge on the first right canine 
tooth, and the remaining teeth are thereby so displaced from their 
normal relation to those of the upper jaw, as to preclude the possi- 
bility of their answering the purpose of mastication—which their 
worn condition proves them to have done,—had they occupied the 
same relative position during life. 
The extreme distortion which this skull has undergone is still more 
apparent when looking on it at its base. The bone has been fractured, 
and portions of it have become detached under the pressure, while 
the mastoid processes are twisted obliquely, so that the left one is 
upward of an inch in advance of the right. 
The circumstances under which this Indian skull was found tend to 
throw some light on the probable process by which its posthumous 
malformation was effected. It was covered by little more than two 
feet of soil, the pressure of which was in itself insufficient to have oc- 
casioned the change of form. The skull, moreover, was entirely filled 
with the fine sand in which it was embedded. If, therefore, we con- 
ceive of the body lying interred under this slight covering of soil 
until all the tissues and brain had disappeared, and the infiltration of 
